PHOSPHORUS TRANSLOCATION BY SAPROTROPHIC BASIDIOMYCETE MYCELIAL CORD SYSTEMS ON THE FLOOR OF A MIXED DECIDUOUS WOODLAND

Translocation of P-32 was examined in seven mycelial cord systems of Hypholoma fasciculare, Phanerochaete velutina and Phallus impudicus which had developed from wood block inocula placed on the floor of a mixed deciduous woodland. Five days after addition of radiotracer to the central inoculum activity was detected at the margins of cord systems, demonstrating translocation P-32 over distances up to 75 cm. Destructive sampling showed that radioactivity was present in cords and a range of wood and leaf litter components colonized by cord systems. Radioactivity was also detected in live Fragaria vesca plants and shoots of the moss Hypmum cupressiforme.